Students Partnership Worldwide (SPW)
Chitwan National Park Project

For the Chitwan National Park Project, Himalayan
Hands joined forces with SPW who have already completed
several small scale community construction projects in the area.

Background

SPW is a "youth focused development charity"
that runs six-month long expeditions with (18-25 yr old) UK and Nepali
volunteers. All SPW programmes are designed to raise awareness of
development issues at home as well as assisting the local communities.
SPW places strong emphasis on social and cultural interaction. All
Himalayan Hands volunteers underwent a pre-project orientation
programme in Nepali language and culture.

The Project

Like all SPW projects the Himalayan Hands Chitwan
National Park Project was one identified by the local community as
useful to them. Examples of these simple projects include: improvements
to sanitation facilities, or constructing a central community seating
area around a village tree (a popular meeting place in Nepal).

The project identified was to construct a new school
in the village. This school could not be completed within the timescales
of the project but a great deal of progress was made and since the project
the school has now been completed.

The benefits to the local community were not only
be material in the form of improved facilities but also increased
awareness of their position and needs by the wider world community.
Both local and UK volunteers will gain increased cultural understanding
and tolerance by working together to achieve a common goal.